00:00Happy to be joined here on the Midday Show by Braves Legend, and you can add one more
00:04item to the resume as well, the Grand Marshal for the NASCAR race coming up this weekend.
00:08Start your engines!
00:10Chipper Jones.
00:10Chipper, how are you?
00:12Guys, how's it going?
00:13Good for having me.
00:15Yeah, thanks for taking the time.
00:16So what all goes into being the Grand Marshal this weekend?
00:21Oh, I don't know.
00:23Last time I...
00:24I guess you haven't done it yet, yeah.
00:26Well, I did it one other time at Talladega, but that was probably nine or ten years ago.
00:34Yeah, you sit in on the driver's meeting, you get introduced to all the drivers, you get
00:39to hang out a little bit, and then scream at the top of your lungs in front of 200,000
00:45people, and it's a pretty cool gig.
00:48Is this one of them things where you don't have to think about it when they ask you, like,
00:51let me check my calendar type thing, or you just move stuff so you can do this?
00:56Yeah, I think this is an opportunity that you can't really pass up.
01:00It's such an honor for, you know, NASCAR to want you to come do it.
01:07Obviously, I've had, you know, kind of inklings that it might happen here in Atlanta at some
01:12point, and it finally happened.
01:15But, you know, this is one of the most exciting races on the circuit right now, probably one
01:20of the most competitive that you see out there.
01:23So to get the thing kick-started is a true honor for me.
01:27And I know you've gotten to do a lot of cool stuff, and I'm sure this goes on the list.
01:32And like you said, Talladega, I went to the Savannah Bananas game earlier this year.
01:35You were there throwing out the first pitch.
01:37It's just like Chipper Jones, the dignitary.
01:39But, like, if you had to think about some of the stuff you've done, like, what are some
01:44of the coolest opportunities post-career you've had to come and be a part of stuff like this?
01:50Oh, man.
01:51Well, let's see.
01:51I've met, I've shaken the hand of four American presidents.
01:57That's pretty cool.
01:58I got to visit the White House under the Clinton administration after we won the World Series.
02:04So that was pretty cool.
02:05I've been to a Ryder Cup.
02:11I've been to multiple Super Bowls.
02:15So, yeah, I mean, to say that I've done some pretty crazy things, some cool things in my life.
02:22Heck, I was at, so I grew up right outside of Daytona Beach, Florida.
02:26I grew up going to, you know, Daytona 500s and Firecracker 400s.
02:32I was actually in the stands when Richard Petty won his 200th career race in Daytona and
02:40got to see Ronald Reagan fly in on Air Force One to congratulate him personally.
02:45So, yeah, just some cool stuff, you know, throughout the years that it doesn't suck to be me from
02:51time to time.
02:52That's what I was getting at.
02:53That's what I was getting at.
02:54I was like, we were talking before we got something like, when you say Chipper, everybody
02:58knows who you damn talking about in this country.
03:02And knowing, in this country, in this city where you are, are you going to the game tomorrow?
03:07Because the biggest sporting event in the world is here, the best player in the world is here
03:11tomorrow in Atlanta.
03:11So, is that something that you're going to be able to do?
03:15What is it you're talking about?
03:16The World Cup is tomorrow, Chipper, here in Atlanta, the game, with Messi playing.
03:21So, I will actually be on a plane to Michigan because I'm taking a golf trip with some of
03:29the fellas up to Oakland Hills.
03:32So, another cool thing, I'm going to miss the World Cup here in Atlanta, but, you know,
03:38we'll see how it goes from here on for the U.S.
03:41You guys will probably be watching it though, right?
03:44Guys trip, hanging out.
03:45A hundred percent, we will be watching it.
03:47Over a cold beer, probably, over a cold beer.
03:49That sounds good.
03:50All right.
03:51Well, that sounds like a lot of fun.
03:53And again, like we said, you've got a lot of stuff going on.
03:55One of the things you have going on is a special assistant to the Braves as a hitting instructor.
04:00Offense has been much better this year.
04:02When you sort of have to put a finger on maybe one or two of the biggest differences,
04:06what would you say that they are?
04:09I think the first thing, you've got to point to Michael Harris.
04:13He's really turned things around from an offensive standpoint.
04:18We always knew that there was a superstar in waiting out there in center field.
04:24We're just waiting for him to turn the corner offensively.
04:27He seems to have done that.
04:29Ozzie Alves has had a great, you know, first half.
04:34Congrats to him on making the All-Star team.
04:37We've still got to get Austin Riley, you know, back hitting.
04:43We've got to get a right fielder, Ronald Acuna, back healthy.
04:48I think, you know, even with some of the struggles that we had in June,
04:54we got off to such a good start in April and May.
04:56Really struggled in June.
04:58I think you're going to start to see us get healthier in the lineup,
05:02healthier in the starting pitching staff as we start to get, you know,
05:07maybe Strider back, maybe Shwelly back, maybe Smith-Shauver back.
05:12So a lot of brightness on the horizon for the Braves.
05:19Hopefully we can keep the Phillies at arm's length, you know,
05:22until after the break and get our guys back healthy and extend this lead again.
05:27Chipper, how does this job work?
05:28Because I was always curious, because we know here in Atlanta,
05:30if they're struggling, it's always like they're struggling to play.
05:32Call Chipper.
05:33We need to call Chipper.
05:34Chipper needs to go and help these guys.
05:36Is it one of those things where you're observing
05:38and you might just call over there and get some pointers,
05:40or do they reach out and say,
05:41Chipper, we need you to come over here and work with these guys?
05:44It's a little bit of both.
05:45I mean, I'm a huge fan of, you know, all the guys on the club.
05:50I know them all personally.
05:52They all have my number.
05:54I have theirs.
05:55If I see something, you know, I might shoot them a text and say,
06:00hey, you know, maybe work on this tomorrow.
06:02In this particular case, over the last week,
06:06when they finished up in San Francisco,
06:09Darnell Coles texts me and he goes,
06:13hey, man, I really hope you're coming down to the stadium this week
06:16because we need a third set of eyes for Drake and for Austin Riley.
06:22And, you know, it's always nice to be wanted.
06:25You don't want to step on anybody's toes.
06:27You don't want to overstep your boundaries.
06:29But certainly when asked to be that third set of eyes,
06:35one of my strengths is breaking down film, you know,
06:37and being able to relay it to guys, you know, the way a teacher would.
06:43You know, and that's what we tried to accomplish this past week.
06:50Well, as much as you can, and I know, you know,
06:52it's in confidence and it's your job and all that,
06:54but as much as you can,
06:56can you tell us what you're seeing with Austin Riley
06:58and what he maybe needs to tweak?
07:01Yeah, he's just getting a little big.
07:03And what I mean by big is his stride is big,
07:07which means his balance is going to be off.
07:11His head's going to move.
07:13Heck, it's hard enough to hit 95 to 100 miles an hour
07:16when your head's perfectly still.
07:18When it's bobbing up and down and moving forward,
07:22you know, it makes it that much more difficult.
07:25So to see him, you know,
07:29hit that ball out of the ballpark to right field the other night
07:32for a three-run homer,
07:34nobody needed that from a confidence standpoint more than him.
07:37And it lets him know that some of the things that we've been working on,
07:43when done correctly and fundamentally right, they work, you know,
07:47and you get instant results.
07:49So it's good to see him kind of get off the snide a little bit.
07:52Yeah.
07:53Chipper, we were just talking last one for you now,
07:56because you're not going to the World Cup.
07:57You said you're going on a golf trip.
07:58What's a golf trip, like Chipper-style golf trip?
08:01Because, I mean, we're going to hang out with our boys.
08:03We're going to have some beers, cigars.
08:05But maybe play a hole 18, maybe get 13 in there.
08:10What's a golf trip like with Chipper?
08:13Oh, man, it's a production.
08:15It's like, so we're going to play somewhere really, really nice,
08:20really, really exclusive,
08:22and then we're going to get hammered while we're doing it.
08:27And then we're going to get a reservation at a really nice restaurant.
08:34We're going to have a really big steak.
08:36We're going to continue to get hammered.
08:38And then we're going to go to sleep,
08:41and we're going to wake up and do it all again.
08:43Hell yeah.
08:45Hell yeah.
08:47I don't want to get too into detail about it,
08:50but that's pretty much what happened.
08:54That's a good blueprint.
08:55Can you golf right and left-handed?
08:59Oh, it's funny.
09:00I cannot hit a golf ball left-handed very well.
09:05I play right-handed, but I do putt left-handed.
09:08Really?
09:08Huh.
09:09How about that?
09:09Huh.
09:10There it is.
09:10That is funny.
09:11I'm glad I asked.
09:12Chipper, thank you.
09:12Appreciate it.
09:13Have a great time.
09:14Have a good time.
09:15All right, guys.
09:15Y'all be good.
09:16Enjoyed it.
09:16Chipper Jones there.
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